Toy roundabout



W- C- CLARK TOY ROUNDABOUT July 19, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 7, 1963 K a m TA M m z W m m M I United States Patent 3,261,604 TOY ROUNDABOUT Wayne C. Clark, Norfolk, Va., assignor of forty-five percent to Walter C. Foracre, Sr., and ten percent to Paul C. Wolman, Jr., both of Baltimore, Md.

Filed Nov. 7, 1963, Ser. No. 322,093 3 Claims. (Cl. 27231) This invention relates to a toy and more particularly to a toy device which may be wound up and which will then operate for an extended period of time to provide amusement and interest to spectators.

A primary object of this invention is the provision of a toy which is sturdy and durable in construction, entertaining in operation, and relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, assemble, utilize, and maintain.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a toy wherein a weighted member is attached to the end of an elongated flexible means, the weighted member being thrust outwardly to be helically wound around one of two spaced, vertically extending, standard means, the force of gravity eventually unwinding the flexible means whereafter it is thrust outwardly and helically wound around the other standard means, the same operation being repeated until the power supplied by a windup driving means is run down.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a device of the type described which will attract the attention of a viewer and maintain his attention for an extended period of time.

Other and further objects reside in the combination of elements, arrangement of parts, and features of construction.

Still other objects will in part be obvious and in part be pointed out as the description of the invention proceeds and as shown in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the toy device of the instant invention, an intermediate or stationary position of the weighted member and flexible means being shown in dotted lines on the right hand side of the figure, and a subsequent position of the weighted member and flexible means being shown in dotted lines on the left hand side of the figure;

FIGURE 2 is an end elevational view of the device shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view of the driving means of the embodiment of FIGURE 1, taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the upper portion of a modified form of toy device in accordance with the instant inventive concept;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken substantially on line 5-5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a front elevational view of a still further embodiment of the instant invention, with parts broken away for illustrative clarity;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken substantially on line 77 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through a portion of a still further modification of the instant invention, particularly showing an alternate driving means for the same;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary top plan view taken substantially on line 99 of FIGURE 8, and particularly showing a modified stop means in accordance with the instant inventive concept; and

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken substantially on line 1010 of FIGURE 8.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in general and more par- 3,261,604 Patented July 19, 1966 ticularly to FIGURES l to 3, a preferred embodiment of the instant invention is designated generally by the reference numeral 20 and comprises basically a pair of vertically extending, horizontally spaced, substantially straight standard means 22 secured at ther lower ends to a base means 24 and secured at their upper ends to a pair of vertically spaced elements 26 comprising a header means 28. A weighted member 30 which may be formed of any conventional material, such as plastic, wood, metal, or the like, is secured to one end of an elongated flexible means 32, such as a string or the like, the other end of the flexible means 32 being secured to one end of an arm member 34, which as shown in the drawings, has a substantially horizontally extending central portion and an upwardly bent end portion 36 rotatably mounted through a bearing means 38 carried by the header means 28 intermediate the standard means 22. The bearing means 38 as shown comprises an aperture 40 defined in the lower element 26 in which a sleeve member (not shown) may be secured to reduce friction, and a pair of apertured ball members 42 above and below, respectively, the lower element 26 to limit vertical movement of the arm member 34. A driving means is designated generally by the reference numeral 44 and is comprised basically of a biasing means 46 having one end portion 48 secured to the bent end portion 36 of the arm member 34, and an opposing end portion 50 secured to a windup means designated generally at 52 and adapted to energize the biasing means 46 to provide the same with a quantity of stored rotational energy adapted to rotate the arm member 34 for a purpose and in a manner to be explained in more detail hereinafter. The windup means 52 includes a substantially horizontally extending handle member 54 with a knob 56 secured to one end thereof to facilitate manual actuation, and a downwardly bent end portion 58 passing through an additional bearing means 60 in the upper element 26, the additional bearing means 60 including a sleeve member 62 communicating with an aperture 64 in the upper element 26 and having portions which define a stop means in the form of a notch 66, or oppositely disposed notches for engagement of the handle member 54 to preclude reverse rotation after the biasing means 46 has been energized.

The use and operation of the toy device as shown in FIGURES l to 3 will now be apparent. The biasing means 46 of the drivig means 44 is energized by rotation of the windup means 52 with the arm member 34 being maintained stationary. In the embodiment of FIGURES 1 to 3, the biasing means comprises a resilient band such as a rubber band or the like which is readily twisted in a well-known manner by the windup means 52 to store a quantity of rotational energy which is transferred to the arm member 34 to rotate the same about the bearing means 38. Such rotation will thrust the weighted member 30 outwardly by centrifugal force in a substantially horizontally disposed circular path. The flexible means 32 is of such a length as to be helically wound around one of the standard means 22 in a plurality of convolutions by the weighted member 30 as shown in the right hand portion of FIGURE 1. The windup means 52 is precluded from reverse rotation during movement of the arm member 34 by the notch 66 which engages the same to maintain it stationary. The magnitude of the driving means 44 is insufiicient to continue rotation of the arm member 34 when the flexible means 32 is wound around the standard means 22 thereby preventing rupturing of the flexible means 32 or breaking of the arm member 34. The force of gravity acting on the weighted member 30 eventually unwinds the flexible means 32 freeing the same from the standard means 22 as shown at 30a and 32a in dotted lines. The driving means 44 then continues rotation of the arm member 34 about the bearing means 38 to again thrust the weighted member 30 outwardly in a substantially horizontally disposed path causing the flexible means 32 to be wound around the other standard means 22 as shown in dotted lines at 34b, 32b, and 30b in FIG- URE 1. This procedure will be repeated continuously until the rotational energy stored within the biasing means 46 is depleted to the point where the flexible means 32 will not be thrust outwardly around the standard means 22 at which time it becomes necessary to re-energize the biasing means 46 by rotation of the windup means 52 in the manner disclosed hereinbefore.

A modified embodiment of the toy of the instant invention is shown partially in FIGURES 4 and wherein each of the standard means 22a is wrapped by a helically wound design forming means 70 of any conventional material such as plastic, cloth, or the like, to improve the aesthetic appearance of the same. An alternate form of header means 28a comprises a single element 72 having a horizontally extending slot 74 defined therein receiving a coil spring 76, with one end 78 of the coil spring 76 being secured to the downwardly bent end portion 58a of the windup means 52a and the other end 80 of the coil spring 76 being secured to the upwardly bent end portion 36a of the arm member 34a.

A further modification is shown in FIGURES 6 and 7 wherein each of the standard means 22b are in the form of an elongated helical or spiral member to increase the attractiveness of the toy and further to cause the flexible means 32 to be wound in a more intricate pattern thereabout. The header means 281) of this modification includes spaced elements 26b with cover plates 82 on opposite sides thereof, slots 84 being provided in each of the cover plates 82 to accommodate a modified biasing means 86. The biasing means 86 is in the form of a coil spring 88 similar to the coil spring 76 but enclosed in a casing formed by a lower casing member 90 secured to one end of the spring 88 and secured to the upwardly bent end portion 36b of the arm member 34b, and enlarged upper casing member 92 covering the lower member and having the other end of the coil spring 88 secured thereto at 94, the upper casing member 92 carrying a conventional ratchet means 96 and being secured to the downwardly bent end portion 58b of the windup means 52b, a pawl member 96 being secured by a pin 98 to the upper element 26b and operatively engaging the ratchet means 96 to allow rotation in one direction only thereby functioning as a modified stop means to preclude reverse rotation of the windup means 52b after the coil spring 88 has been energized.

A still further modified embodiment is shown partially in FIGURES 8 to wherein the upwardly bent end portion 360 of the arm member 340 and the downwardly bent end portion 580 of the windup means 520 are aligned with each other by a sleeve 100 which is circumscribed by an elongated spiral spring 102, one end of which is secured at 104 to the end portion 360 and the other end of which is secured at 106 to the end portion 58c. A modified stop means is secured to the top side of the upper of the vertically spaced elements 26c of the header means 280 in the form of an angularly bent spring steel member 108 which is easily bent in one direction to allow passage of the handle member 540 of the windup means 520, while being substantially rigid in the opposite direction to preclude reverse rotation after the spiral spring 102 has been energized.

The use and operation of the embodiments of FIG- URES 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 through 10 will now be obvious.

While the illustrative embodiments described hereinabove and shown in the drawings have been limited to two spaced standard means, it is to be understood that the instant inventive concept will readily apply to a single standard means whereby the arm member will make a complete rotation and the resilient means will be wound about the same standard means .each time. Also, more 4 than two standard means spaced about the arm member may be provided, the resilient means being wound about each one consecutively and eventually returning to the first standard means where the entire procedure will be repeated.

Although the device of the instant invention is primarily designed as a toy for entertainment purposes, it is to be understood that other uses of the same, such as in the advertising field where it will attract attention to a particular communication, are contemplated.

It will now be seen that there is provided herein an entertaining and useful device which satisfies all of the objectives of the instant invention and others including many advantages from either a commercial or amusement standpoint.

Since many embodiments may be made of the instant inventive concept, and since many modifications may be made of the embodiments hereinbefore shown and described, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted merely as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A toy comprising at least two vertically extending standard means, a weighted member, flexible means having two ends, said weighted member being carried on one end of said flexible means, an arm member having two ends, bearing means rotatably mounted one end of said arm member horizontally spaced from each of said standard means and from the other end of said arm, the other end of said flexible means being secured to the other end of said arm member, driving means operatively secured to said one end of said arm member for rotating the same in said bearing means to thrust said weighted member outwardly by centrifugal force in a substantially horizontally disposed circular path, said flexible means being of such a length as to be helically wound around one of said standard means in a plurality of convolutions by said weighted member, the power of said driving means being insufficient to continue rotation of said arm member when said flexible means is wound around one of said standard means, the force of gravity on said weighted member subsequently unwinding said flexible means from said one standard means whereafter said driving means continue the rotation of said arm member in said bearing means to again thrust said weighted member outwardly in said circular path, said flexible means being helically wound around another of said standard means when again thrust outwardly in said circular path by said driving means after being unwound by the force of gravity from one of said standard means, base means secured to the lower end of said standard means, header means secured to the upper end of said standard means, said bearing means being carried by said header means intermediate said standard means, said driving means including biasing means normally urging said arm member to rotate in said bearing means, windup means operatively secured to said biasing means for manually energizing said biasing means, stop means operatively secured to said windup means for precluding de-energization of said biasing means by said windup means, said biasing means including opposing end portions, one end portion of said biasing means being secured to said one end of said arm member, the other end portion of said biasing means being secured to said windup means, said biasing means being energized by rotation of said windup means with said arm member substantially stationary, whereby said biasing means is tensioned, and said stop means precluding reverse rotation of said windup means by said biasing means during rotation of said arm member, said stop means including a ratchet member secured to said Windup means, and a fixed pawl member operatively engaging said ratchet member to allow rotation of said windup means in one direction only, said windup means including a substantially horizontally extending handle member and a downwardly depending bent end portion, additional bearing means rotatably mounting said depending bent end portion of said windup means, and said bent end portio being connected to said biasing means.

2. A toy comprising at least two vertically extending standard means, a weighted member, flexible means having two ends, said weighted member being carried on One end of said flexible means, an arm member having two ends, bearing means rotatably mounting one end of said arm member horizontally spaced from each of said standard means and from the other end of said arm, the other end of said flexible means being secured to the other end of said arm member, driving means operatively secured to said one end of said arm member for rotating the same in said bearing means to thrust said weighted member outwardly by centrifugal force in a substantially horizontally disposed circular path, said flexible means being of such a length as to be helically wound around one of said standard means in a plurality of convolutions by weighted member, the power of said driving means being insuflicient to continue rotation of said arm member when said flexible means is wound around one of said standard means, the force of gravity on said weighted member subsequently unwinding said flexible means from said standard means whereafter said driving means continue the rotation of said arm member in said bearing means to again thrust said weighted member outwardly in said circular path, said flexible means being helically wound around another of said standard means when again thrust outwardly in said circular path by said driving means after being unwound by the force of gravity from one of said standard means, base means secured to the lower end of said standard means, header means secured to the upper end of said standard means, said bearing means being carried by said header means intermediate said standard means, said driving means including biasing means normally urging said arm member to rotate in said bearing means, windup means operatively secured to said biasing means for manually energizing said biasing means, stop means operatively secured to said wind up means for precluding de-energization of said biasing means by said windup means, said biasing means including opposing end portions, one end portion of said biasing means being secured to said one end of said arm member, the other end portion of said biasing means being secured to said windup means, said biasing means being energized by rotation of said windup means with said arm member substantially stationary, whereby said biasing means is twisted, and said stop means precluding reverse rotation of said windup means by said biasing means during rotation of said arm member, said additional bearing means including a sleeve member through which said bent end portion of said windup means passes, said stop means including portions of said sleeve defining a notch engaging said handle member after rotation of said windup means to preclude reverse rotation.

3. A toy comprising at least two vertically extending standard means, a weighted member, flexible means having two ends, said weighted member being carried on one end of said flexible means, an arm member having two ends, bearing means rotatably mounting one end of said arm member horizontally spaced from each of said standand means and from the other end of said arm, the other end of said flexible means being secured to the other end of said arm member, driving means operatively secured to said one end of said arm member for rotating the same in said bearing means to thrust said weighted member outwardly by centrifugal force in a substantially horizontally disposed circular path, said flexible means being of such a length as to be helically wound around one of said standard means in a plurality of convolutions by said weighted member, the power of said driving means being insuflicient to continue rotation of said arm member when said flexible means is wound around one of said standard means, the force of gravity on said weighted member subsequently unwinding said flexible means from said standard means whereafter said driving means continue the rotation of said arm member in said bearing means to again thrust said weighted member outwardly in said circular path, said flexible means being helically wound around another of said standard means when again thrust outwardly in said circular path by said driving means after being unwound by the force of gravity from one of said standard means, base means secured to the lower end of said standard means, header means secured to the upper end of said standard means, said bearing means being carried by said header means intermediate said standard means, said driving means including biasing means normally urging said arm member to rotate in said bearing means, windup means operatively secured to said biasing means for manually energizing said biasing means, stop means operatively secured to said windup means for precluding de-energization of said biasing means by said windup means, said biasing means including opposing end portions, one end portion of said biasing means being secured to said one end of said arm member, the other end portion of said biasing means being secured to said windup means, said biasing means being energized by rotation of said windup means with said arm member substantially stationary, whereby said biasing means is twisted, and said stop means precluding reverse rotation of said windup means by said biasing means during rotation of said arm member, said windup means including a substantially horizontally extending handle means and a downwardly depending bent end portion additional bearing means rotatably mounting said depending bent end portion of said windup means, and said bent end portion being connected to said biasing means, said stop means including a fixed spring steel member engaging said handle member, said spring steel member being easily flexed in one direction to allow passage of said handle member during rotation of said windup means to energize said biasing means, and being substantially rigid in the opposite direction to preclude reverse rotation.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 721,788 3/1903 Dorment 581l6 X 1,681,310 8/1928 Reiner 27231 2,673,087 3/1954 Bacon 272-31 2,784,527 3/ 1957 Sarlf 46-202 DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner.

R. F. CUTTING, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TOY COMPRISING AT LEAST TWO VERTICALLY EXTENDING STANDARD MEANS, A WEIGHTED MEMBER, FLEXIBLE MEANS HAVING TWO ENDS, SAID WEIGHTED MEMBER BEING CARRIED ON ONE END OF SAID FLEXIBLE MEANS, AN ARM MEMBER HAVING TWO ENDS, BEARING MEANS ROTATABLY MOUNTED ONE END OF SAID ARM MEMBER HORIZONTALLY SPACED FROM EACH OF SAID STANDARD MEANS AND FROM THE OTHER END OF SAID ARM, THE OTHER END OF THE FLEXIBLE MEANS BEING SECURED TO THE OTHER END OF SAID ARM MEMBER, DRIVING MEANS OPERATIVELY SECURED TO SAID ONE END OF SAID ARM MEMBER FOR ROTATING THE SAME IN SAID BEARING MEANS TO THRUST SAID WEIGHTED MEMBER OUTWARDLY BY CENTRIFUGAL FORCE IN A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED CIRCULAR PATH, SAID FLEXIBLE MEANS BEING OF SUCH A LENGTH AS TO BE HELICALLY WOUND AROUND ONE OF SAID STANDARD MEANS IN A PLURALITY OF CONVOLUTIONS BY SAID WEIGHTED MEMBER, THE POWER OF SAID DRIVING MEANS BEING INSUFFICIENT TO CONTINUE ROTATION OF SAID ARM MEMBER WHEN SAID FLEXIBLE MEANS IS WOUND AROUND ONE OF SAID STANDARD MEANS, THE FORCE OF GRAVITY ON SAID WEIGHTED MEMBER SUBSEQUENTLY UNWINDING SAID FLEXIBLE MEANS FROM SAID ONE STANDARD MEANS WHEREAFTER SAID DRIVING MEANS CONTINUE TE ROTATION OF SAID ARM MEMBER IN SAID BEARING MEANS TO AGAIN THRUST SAID WEIGHTED MEMBER OUTWARDLY IN SAID CIRCULAR PATH, SAID FLEXIBLE MEANS BEING HELICALLY WOUND AROUND ANOTHER OF SAID STANDARD MEANS WHEN AGAIN THRUST OUTWARDLY IN SAID CIRCULAR PATH BY SAID DRIVING MEANS AFTER BEING UNWOUND BY THE FORCE OF GRAVITY FROM ONE OF SAID STANDARD MEANS, BASE MEANS SECURED TO THE LOWER END OF SAID STANDARD MEANS, HEADER MEANS SECURED TO THE UPPER END OF SAID STANDARD MEANS, SAID BEARING MEANS BEING CARRIED BY SAID HEADER MEANS INTERMEDIATE SAID STANDARD MEANS, SAID DRIVING MEANS INCLUDING BIASING MEANS NORMALLY URGING SAID ARM MEMBER TO ROTATE IN SAID BEARING MEANS, WINDUP MEANS OPERATIVELY SECURED TO SAID BIASING MEANS FOR MANUALLY ENERGIZING SAID BIASING MEANS, STOP MEANS OPERATIVELY SECURED TO SAID WINDUP MEANS FOR PRECLUDING DE-ENERGIZATION OF SAID BIASING MEANS SAID WINDUP MEANS, SAID BIASING MEANS INCLUDING OPPOSING END PORTIONS, ONE END PORTION OF SAID BIASING MEANS BEING SECURED TO SAID ONE END OF SAID ARM MEMBER, THE OTHER END PORTION OF SAID BIASING MEANS BEING SECURED TO SAID WINDUP MEANS, SAID BIASING MEANS BEING ENERGIZED BY ROTATION OF SAID WINDUP MEANS WITH SAID ARM MEMBER SUBSTANTIALLY STATIONARY, WHEREBY SAID BIASING MEANS IS TENSIONED, AND SAID STOP MEANS PRECLUDING REVERSE ROTATION OF SAID WINDUP MEANS BY SAID BIASING MEANS DURING ROTATION OF SAID ARM MEMBER, SAID STOP MEANS INCLUDING A RATCHET MEMBER SECURED TO SAID WINDUP MEANS, AND A FIXED PAWL MEMBER OPERATIVELY ENGAGING SAID RATCHET MEMBER TO ALLOW ROTATION OF SAID WINDUP MEANS IN ONE DIRECTION ONLY, SAID WINDUP MEANS INCLUDING A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTALLY EXTENDING HANDLE MEMBER AND A DOWNWARDLY DEPENDING BENT END PORTION, ADDITIONAL BEARING MEANS ROTATABLY MOUNTING SAID DEPENDING BENT END PORTION OF SAID WINDUP MEANS, AND SAID BENT END PORTION BEING CONNECTED TO SAID BIASING MEANS. 